Pinoy director wins in Korean film festival

ABS-CBN News

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino director-cinematographer won in the 13th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) held recently in South Korea.

Jet Leyco of the ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs Division bagged the JB Bank Award, a special jury prize at the international competition, for his film “Ex Press.”

He received 7 million Korean won, or about P260,000.

Leyco is the director, producer, writer, editor and cinematographer of “Ex Press,” which was described as “an edgy cocktail of fiction and documentary.”

"Ex Press," a true story about a train derailment of the Philippine National Railways, was also screened at the 41st International Film Festival Rotterdam, the biggest annual gathering in the Netherlands for filmmakers around the world.

Here are some comments about the film, as posted on the JIFF website:

“The irregular use of black-and-white and color images, the production which is not so clear if it’s a documentary or fiction, and the mocumentary method, all of which disturbs the cinematic tradition and prejudice of the audience.

“This confusion is not only limited in its form but also in the contents; dreams and memories of an individual, a railway police’s death and his memories, the life of his family, his victims, the train and the lives of its neighbors appear as fragments without any particular order in time or location.

“Though the audience may feel at ease at some point, not long after the film begins, because they will notice that any efforts of dramaturgy to put those elements in order would be useless. How to enjoy this is up to each of you just like when you drink a latte or cocktail, or have an exotic dish.”

Alessandro Comodin’s “Summer of Giacomo” won the Woosuk Award, the top prize at the JIFF.

The JIFF Audience Award went to “The River Used to Be a Man” by Jan Zabeil, while “Padak” by Lee Dae Hee received the CGV Movie Collage Award.